WASHINGTON - A key company behind a half-trillion-dollar nationwide artificial intelligence venture, which includes a project in Lordstown, is asking the federal government for new financial incentives and policy changes to help finish the job.

OpenAI, a research company behind the Stargate project, is urging the White House to use policy and government support to accelerate the construction effort needed to power the next generation of artificial intelligence.

OpenAI, in partnership with other technology firms like Oracle and SoftBank, is building a network of super data centers across the country under the name Stargate. The initiative is a commitment of up to $500 billion to reach a 10-gigawatt computing capacity. This immense scale requires a complex, national-level buildout of technology, energy, and physical infrastructure.

One of the newest sites for this development is in Lordstown, where SoftBank has already broken ground on an advanced data center design expected to be operational next year. The Lordstown site is part of a plan to expand Stargate's footprint to nearly seven gigawatts of capacity, putting the partners ahead of schedule on their total investment commitment.

The central part of OpenAI's request, made in a letter to the government's Office of Science and Technology Policy, involves expanding an existing tax credit.

The company is asking the government to broaden the scope of the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit. This credit, introduced to Congress by former Valley Congressman Tim Ryan, was created by the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors Act of 2022, also known as the CHIPS Act. It currently allows eligible taxpayers who manufacture semiconductors or semiconductor manufacturing equipment in the United States to claim a tax credit equal to 25% of their qualified investment.

OpenAI's Chief Global Affairs Officer, Christopher Lehane, stated that the credit coverage should be extended to include the entire supply chain necessary for artificial intelligence. The expansion would apply the financial incentive to the domestic production of electrical grid components, artificial intelligence servers, and the construction of artificial intelligence data centers.

Lehane argues that expanding this tax credit will lower the cost of capital for the undertakings, reduce the risk for early investments, and unlock private funds, speeding the American artificial intelligence buildout. He also stated that the first one trillion dollars invested in artificial intelligence infrastructure could result in more than a five percent increase in gross domestic product growth over three years.

In addition to tax incentives, the company is pushing for a series of policy changes to streamline building infrastructure.

The company noted that every stage of the artificial intelligence buildout, from critical minerals and semiconductor fabrication to data center construction, faces bottlenecks that could delay projects. For example, the time to connect new projects to the power grid has slowed, and the lead times for critical equipment often exceed two years.

To counter this, OpenAI has called for the federal government to use financial support, such as grants, cost-sharing agreements, loans, or loan guarantees, to expand the capacity and resilience of the nation’s industrial base. The support would focus on shorter lead times for critical components like transformers and high-voltage converters. The company is also seeking help to accelerate the permitting process for new transmission lines, which are necessary to power the data centers.

OpenAI's Chief Financial Officer, Sarah Friar, expressed the need for the private sector and government to work together on this kind of infrastructure. She stated that the United States has a history of building large, foundational projects, and the artificial intelligence buildout will take a similar partnership approach.

Friar's original comments sparked public discussion about the extent of private companies seeking taxpayer support. In her follow-up social media post, Friar stressed that the company is not seeking a government guarantee for its own infrastructure commitments. She explained that her point was about strengthening technology’s industrial capacity, which needs private investment.

The federal government, which is watching the global race for artificial intelligence leadership, has been actively engaged with the technology sector.

David Sacks, the White House Chief Artificial Intelligence and Crypto Czar, stated on social media that the administration supports building the infrastructure needed to maintain the lead in artificial intelligence. He called for a focus on policies that remove barriers and create financial incentives, not just for the chip manufacturing itself, but for the entire artificial intelligence infrastructure supply chain.

"We do want to make permitting and power generation easier," Sacks stated in a social media post. "The goal is rapid infrastructure buildout without increasing residential rates for electricity."

The Stargate project itself was first announced at the White House with President Trump, who pledged his support for the effort as part of a push to encourage investment in American artificial intelligence infrastructure. The President's administration has cited its policies as having helped the Stargate effort move forward more quickly than expected.

The push for a single, unified cybersecurity compliance framework is also a key policy recommendation from the company. OpenAI argued that technology companies currently face too many confusing and overlapping rules from various government entities.

The company is asking the government to adopt clear requirements to reduce complexity and allow companies to focus their resources on innovation rather than compliance.

As the Stargate project progresses in places like Lordstown, the debate is expected to continue in Washington over whether the government should use tax policy and other financial tools to support the tec